Detroit Branch NAACP Press Statement: Democracy Will Prevail!

DETROIT, April 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today's actions taken by the Michigan Board of Canvassers in the process of certification for 226,000 signatures to repeal Public Act 4 is a disgrace to the democracy of our nation. The Board of Canvassers' poli-tricks are reminiscent of the very reasons that we claimed that we were fighting for others in the nations of Afghanistan – and up until recently - Iraq.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." We do not intend to remain silent about this political treachery and this civil mockery of our Constitution and the right of the people to be heard.

It is unprecedented when the Board of Canvassers willfully and maliciously overruled the recommendation of their own staff which put forth a positive recommendation to certify the petitions. The estimated number of valid signatures contained on the petition was 203,071. To throw out signatures on the basis of the size of the font rather than on the substance of the signatures is an affront to every American.

Will Michigan become the new Mississippi? We have been here before. We have seen this kind of deception and political gangsterism in times past. Let those who along party lines voted for party over principle remember that our nation was founded on the basis of those who fought against the will of the people to be heard. Those who operated against the will of the people only served to delay justice. They never had the capacity to deny justice. Justice will prevail in 2012 – just like it prevailed in 1776. We have come too far to be turned back. On to the courts! On to Justice and the will of the people will always prevail! In the words of Frederick Douglass, "the limits of tyrants are prescribed by those whom they oppress." We do not intend to stand idly by while democracy is under attack.